endowed

American  

[en-doud] / ɛnˈdaʊd /

adjective

1. supported by a permanent fund or source of income.

   A cooperative owned by 50 families set up the endowed scholarship in 2000.

2. naturally possessing a certain quality, talent, physical feature, or other advantage, especially a sexually attractive feature.

   She bunched up the blouse behind her to look at herself and sighed at her modestly endowed body.

   Countries far less endowed than ours have made greater economic progress through greater coherence and unity of purpose.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of endow.

Other Word Forms

• unendowed
  adjective
• well-endowed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of endowed

endow ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

When you're stuck on a really tricky math problem, you might ask your best friend for help, especially if she happens to be endowed with impressive mathematical skills. Endowed means "provided or equipped with." When you have a special ability, you can say you're endowed with it. You can also be endowed with a quality, like beauty. Endowed is often used to describe something you're born with, though it can also refer to something that's been learned. Endowed traditionally meant "provided with money," especially when it came to a woman's dowry, the money she brought into a marriage. It's still used this way when someone donates, or endows, money to an institution.

Example Sentences

Under Minson's guidance, who is the Kenneth M. and Kenda H. Singer Endowed Professor of Human Physiology and director of the Bowerman Center, the team tracked several key indicators.

From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2025

In 2002, he established the James E. Silcott Endowed Chair with an initial $1 million, bringing architects like Sir David Adjaye, Philip Freelon, Jack Travis and Roberta Washington to teach and mentor at Howard.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2025

Alexander’s legacy lives on: In 1997, one USC alumna established the Althea Alexander Endowed Scholarship Fund to support minority medical students.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 11, 2024

"If you're negative on this test, it's almost certain that you don't have aggressive prostate cancer," said Chinnaiyan, S. P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology and professor of urology at Michigan Medicine.

From Science Daily • Apr. 18, 2024

Endowed with enormous energy and ambition, Palmer was tall and handsome, completely self-assured, and had a quick, inquisitive mind.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler